I started doing a Google search and figured /r/sysadmin is much better than Google since I will get such an un-biased opinion.

We have a ton of files, contracts, etc locked away in a room. Anything over three years is physically moved to our storage facility or shredded if not needed. I have hated this for years but it's worked.

Lately, I have been making sure that the documents can easily be found in digital form but that tends to only work for things I am involved with. This leads me to my question...

I need a system that can take any document (scanned or digital) and categorize it by our standards and make it easily accessible. Looking for a web-based front end that allows for document security (certain people can't see certain documents) and not looking at using Sharepoint.

My old company moved from a Windows share-based filing system to a product called Autonomy iManage. It's a big product in DM and can be connected to from copiers, scanners, etc (with 3rd party software) to add metadata so users can find content. Alternates are NetDocuments from Lexis Nexus, OpenText, Documentum or Worldox (usually the cheapest option but still a decent product).

We already use Sharepoint for some internal communication stuff. Nothing big. I already spent to much time on Sharepoint to get it to work right (we use Foundation 2010) and would prefer an out of box product for this.

OpenText has other products too, such as eDOCS. I have used OpenText products and users love them. You could even keep the SharePoint front end and bridge the two with a webpart called SeeUnity. (don't work for either, just use their products 'cause they work well.)

A few financial clients of ours use a program called SmartSearch. It all scans onto a plasmon udo box with worm media (for permanent storage) and so far they all seem to like it. It uses SQL server (express if needed) and IIS to host and I think it was 3k for a 5 user license but that was 2 years ago.

We use Atlassian Confluence for doc management. It's primarily used for documentation/collaboration in general and not suited toward file/doc management specifically. It works, though, and has the specifications you mentioned. Users love it, and it only took one 30-minute overview to get the majority of them acclimated to it.

I'll throw a vote in for Intellinetics. They have prices that are a lot more attractive to small-medium sized businesses. They also have a hosted solution if you'd rather not have to worry about the storage.

So, this is probably the biggest black eye in my department. The company wanted to start keeping documents in a system that allowed for archiving. Instead of just moving actual corporate data that needed to be kept, they told IT that we needed all data (including working files) in the system. This meant no more easy to use shared folders.

We chose Documentum, made by EMC. It's slow and meant for the records department, not for every person in the company. So, of course, people kept their data on their desktops... that we don't backup.

We are building up a replacement that is a mix of shared folders for active files, and archived folders when the documents are ready. We are using Symantec Enterprise Vault as it allows users to use the same file folder structure while the archiving happens in the back-end.

It's great and a lot cheaper than Documentum. We looked at SharePoint, but the issue there is it forces uses to learn a new way to manage files, and we're just not there yet.

Have just been looking physical scanning products this week ( high speed scanners and connectors from canon and HP). Will probably end up going with the Canon, but use a connector called IndocX from Digitus (has a completing email connector too)